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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. clip — a video
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chip — for betting
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. clip — for paper
  17. dip — to sink
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — crushed
  20. chip — to eat
  21. pass — a permit
  22. chest — a box
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com